I often get comments and e-mails from readers asking me to share my own home. For the longest time, I have felt a little evasive about doing so. After all, I am not a designer and felt that there was no way my home could stack up against the gorgeous spaces I post on a regular basis here on La Dolce Vita. After a little introspection, I realized that no one would be holding me up against such a standard. I thought about how much I love getting peeks into other people’s homes and here we are. Overall, I think my home is a good example of how to do a lot on a budget and how to make the most of what you have.

Over the last week, Fabian and I painted our formal living and dining rooms a lovely shade of mocha and changed a few accessories out. Normally, we are Benjamin Moore people, but we tried the new premium Behr paint (in Aging Barrel) from Home Depot and were so impressed with the coverage. The room was a wreck all week while we finished painting and it literally came together about an hour before we had our parents over for dinner to celebrate Tate’s first birthday.

{Looking from the Dining Room into the Living Room}

I have the Square Tube Chandelier from Circa Lighting over my dining table which I had just started to set for Tate’s birthday dinner when I took these pictures.

I adore these vintage Knoll Brno chairs! We had considered reupholstering them in a cognac leather, but have decided to keep the burnt orange velvet upholstery. At least for now. I am always changing my mind. The fabulous, little aluminum side table is from my favorite place, Tarjay! I scored this little gem for $40 at Target after getting a tip from my friend, Hallie.

So, we have a few examples of doing a lot with a little or making the most of what you have here. The framed maps are not vintage, but gift wrap from Cavallini & Co. They are printed on really nice, archival-quality Italian paper and are gorgeous for $5 a pop! We used IKEA frames, so each print ended up costing around $35. Fabian and I love to travel and I am a bit of a linguist, so the maps feel very special and personal to us. I don’t love my sofas…at all. We bought them five years ago when microfiber was a lot more popular and my aesthetic was not what it is today. As much as I would love new sofas, I think I’ll have to wait a little while longer. I am still looking for something to put on the right side of the couch. Maybe a a ceramic stool?

In the meantime, I like to add fun pillows to my less than stellar sofas. I just found these at Homegoods last week and thought they worked beautifully with the Brno chairs and helped pull the room together.

This spot has seen several lamps come and go in the four years we’ve lived in our home. I guess that is one of the perks of having a husband who works for one of the best lighting manufacturers in the world. This Carousel Lamp designed by Barbara Barry for Circa Lighting has been here for the last year or so and I still really like it.

The walls used to be more of a tan color and I had garnet-colored dupioni silk drapes. I love the new combination of mocha walls and ivory silk drapes so much more! If you were to keep walking past the dining room, my kitchen and breakfast room would be on your left and the family room would be on your right. Sooner than later, we will change out the carpeting for dark hardwoods.

{The Sweet Birthday Boy}

I can’t resist taking pictures of my little Tater Tot! He is a great little model and I can’t believe he is already a year old! I hope you’ve enjoyed the peek into my humble abode.

Thank you for taking us into your own home! I know exactly how you feel. It is hard to show pictures of my own home, as it pales in comparison to the gorgeous and professionally styled and photographed pictures that I feature on my blog!

Your home is lovely and really looks like you. There are lots of great touches I spy, like those plates on the wall and the stylish chairs. Love it, and your pup is adorable.

Are you serious?????? I mean for real? I dont comment that, that much but I felt the need to type here. Your home is gorg! Love what your doing. Forget what people think and do you! You have no reason to hide your home because you are doing a great job. I even stop following blogs from people that never share their space, and only post everyone elses decor. I just dont see how that is fair to the reader. You have done great!

If you had not told me you weren’t a designer, I would not have know. You have a wonderful eye and great sense and style, and you’ve make the elements that you don’t love work anyway. Good job!And Tate…..what a dog! I have Henry, a 144lb lab that I rescued from a parking lot as a baby. Wish they could meet!

I love your living room, Paloma, and I am SO glad you’ve decided to share it with us (though I totally understand the hesitation to put your “work” out there for everyone to see). I love the chocolate brown walls, especially with the pops of orange. And of course your lighting is exquisite (though I would expect as much!).

PS – Thanks again for the lamp! It looks great in its new home in Dave’s study.

You probably don’t know remember this, but when I wrote on my blog last year about living in my parents’ basement — you wrote me a very sweet & encouraging comment which gave me the courage to post pics of my little basement apartment & kind of just let go. Thank you.

Anyway, your place looks awesome and I am soooo jealous of all of those gorgeous fixtures!!!

P, your home looks amazing! I think what you’ve done is wonderful and really special. Don’t ever fret about not being “a designer” – you have wonderful taste and we all love seeing how you bring your own style into your personal space.

Tate is adorable! You ought to get him into modeling. 🙂 I love the framed maps. I’ve been considering doing something like this myself and voila, here you are with your great tips. Your home is comfy and classy all rolled into one. Thanks for the tour.

Love the paint color, so sophisticated and chic. Behr paint has a very high rating I have heard so it is good to hear it from someone in the know. Happy Bday to Mr Tate. I think I am in love with your dog, he is too cute for words, Kathysue

POLICIES

PALOMA CONTRERAS MEDIA, LLC

CONTENT

All posts and content on this blog are created solely for La Dolce Vita and are a copyright product of Paloma Contreras Media, LLC. Please do not use posts without written permission or without linking back and crediting the original source. We do our very best to give credit where it is due. However, if an image is credited incorrectly, please contact me at paloma@palomacontreras.com so that I can properly credit the image as soon as possible.

COMMENTS

La Dolce Vita reserves the right to moderate comments and remove any comments that are deemed as spam or are inappropriate or offensive without notice.

PRIVACY

Any personal information collected at the time of a giveaway will never be sold or disclosed to third-parties.

AFFILIATES DISCLOSURE

From time to time, I may feature a sponsored post or affiliate links from which I earn a small commission or fee. These posts will be disclosed as such. All opinions are truly and genuinely my own.

PRODUCT SUBMISSION

When pitching products, please be sure to include images and links. We will only consider products that are in keeping with the La Dolce Vita aesthetic and will not feature products that have no relevance to the blog or our readers. We will respond in a timely manner if we are interested.